New Microsoft features and how to use them

Updates are often dreaded. They are seen as an annoyance and inconvenience because they always pop up when you’re in the middle of something. But these updates usually also bring big and small improvements that can really improve your workflow.

Windows 10 update

Are you team Light Theme or Dark theme? Well now you can customize your pc just like your phone by going into your personalization settings and choosing Light or Dark.

Want to take a screenshot of something that’s on your screen without taking one of the whole screen? Use the new built in snip tool by pressing the Windows key + Shift + S. Then you’ll be able to easily paste it from your clipboard onto documents, emails, and message apps.

Finding photos just got easier. Google has had a feature where you can search within your photos by registering names to faces, but also recognizes objects. Now photos you save will have tags to allow you to search and find what you re looking for faster than having to scroll through your entire feed.

Have two apps or windows open side by side. By selecting any open window and bouncing it on the edge of your screen you’ll open a half screen view of it, then all the other open windows will appear on the opposite side for you to select one. It will then fill up the empty space so you can multi task more efficiently.

Talk to text capabilities. By selecting the microphone on a touch keyboard or pressing Windows key + H you’ll be able to dictate instead of type.

Microsoft Rewrite

You might be familiar with Smart Compose on Google Docs which can predict the kind of phrasing you use and finish your sentences. Rewrite started off as a way to help you phrase sentences and phrases better.

But it has now been upgraded to be able to rewrite an entire sentence for you and give you three different options! Rewrite can help you improve your sentences to improve fluency, help create concise phrasing, and improve the readability of what you’ve written.

OneDrive Differential Syncing

This is probably an unfamiliar term for a lot of us, it basically means only what changes gets synced up. In the past when you made a change to a file the entire file would be re-uploaded and saved as the current version. This isn’t a big deal when it comes to small changes on small files, but could be an issue if the file was larger.

So Microsoft upgraded the sync capabilities to allow for differential sync. So now when you make a change to a file that will be the only thing that will be updated will be the changes. This will save time and bandwidth for all users.

New features are great, but another great benefit to updating your device and software is better security. Software updates patch up a lot of potential dangers and weaknesses that could allow hackers to gain access to your device. So it’s important to stay up to date in order to have the latest features, but also the security of a well defended device.